Men's Golf Headline

Redshirt
junior Santiago Gavino had his best outing
of the season with rounds of 71-71-73 (215), and was the tournament’s highest
finishing individual, as Florida wrapped up play at the 2014 SunTrust Gator
Invitational on Sunday.

Gavino
finished T12, matching his finish from the 2013 SunTrust Gator Invitational,
while juniors Eric Banks and J.D. Tomlinson brought home top 20
finishes, recording a shared spot for 18th. Banks and Tomlinson both carded
rounds of 71-74-72 (217) to finish seven-over, 11 strokes off the lead.

No.
23 Arkansas came away victorious in the 36th annual SunTrust Gator Invitational
with a final team score of 849 (+9). The Razorbacks had three golfers place in the
top 20, as Sebastian Cappelen and Taylor Moore both shot a 68 in round three to
finish tied for fourth.

Mercer’s
Trey Rule claimed individual medalist honors in a playoff, the first at the SunTrust
Gator Invitational since 2011, on holes one and two against Florida State’s
Hank Lebioda. Rule birdied both holes to take the crown after firing rounds of
70-67-69 (206) over the weekend, including an eagle on hole three this
afternoon.

Buddy’s
Bite: “It
was a nice event. The Gator is always special in my opinion. It was a little
chilly in the mornings but Todd Wilkinson and his staff did a great job getting
the golf course ready. We had a little tornado about two hours before the first
tee time on Saturday morning but they had it ready to roll at 8 a.m. So, tip of
the cap to him, Scott Hampton and his staff.”

“Every
tournament seems to be kind of like Groundhog Day and that we’ve done the same
things over and over. Even today, my best three players shot 10-over on the
last nine holes or it (Florida’s finish) could have been at least reasonable.
We’ve done it every single tournament so what else can you do besides continue
to work hard.”

“I’m
not giving up and they (the players) aren’t giving up. But, we’re going to do
some things differently.”

The Orange and Blue Crew:

SunTrust Gator Invitational – Florida
Player Final Results

Place

Player

Score

Rounds 1-2-3

T12

Santiago Gavino*

+5 (215)

71-71-73

T18

Eric Banks

+7 (217)

71-74-72

T18

J.D. Tomlinson

+7 (217)

71-74-72

T22

Ryan Orr

+8 (218)

72-71-75

T60

Richard Donegan*

+18 (228)

78-76-74

T66

Billy Anderson

+20 (230)

77-79-74

T73

Conor Richardson

+24 (234)

79-78-77

*competed
as an individual

Leaderboard (Golf World/Nike Golf Division I Coaches’
Poll):

SunTrust Gator Invitational – Team Final
Scores

Place

Team

Score

1

Arkansas (23)

+9 (849)

2

Florida State (22)

+15 (855)

3

Vanderbilt (21)

+18 (858)

4

UCF (8)

+23 (863)

T5

UAB (11)

+28 (868)

T5

Mercer

+28 (868)

T7

Georgia Southern

+34 (874)

T7

Liberty

+34 (874)

9

College of Charleston

+37 (877)

10

North Florida

+40 (880)

11

FLORIDA

+41 (881)

12

Lamar

+46 (886)

13

Coastal Carolina

+48 (888)

14

Jacksonville

+69 (909)

Up
Next for the Gators: Florida
will have a couple weeks to regroup before playing in the USF Invitational on
Mar. 2-4 in Dade City, Fla. The tournament will take place at the Lake Jovita
Golf and Country Club and is hosted by the University of South Florida.